'Nature is very persistent': Watershed group sure Cardigan River fish stocks will rebound
DFO continues to investigate cause of June 7 fish kill in eastern P.E.I. river
An environmental group says it's confident the Cardigan River fish population will rebound, despite hundreds of fish being found dead in the area earlier this month.
The dead fish began showing up in the eastern Prince Edward Island river on June 7, near the 48 Road in Cardigan.
Provincial officials were deployed to gather them up for testing.
Officials with Fisheries and Oceans Canada continue to investigate the fish kill, and no cause has been determined yet.
The executive director of the Southeast Environmental Association, which helps to monitor watersheds in eastern Kings County, said the severity of the fish kill was disappointing.
But Jackie Bourgeois said there are no signs of long-term damage to the river's water health.
"The population will rebound. It's seemingly a healthy river. [When] we understand what caused the fish kill, then I think [that] would be something to address, but at this point I'm not really concerned," said Bourgeois.
"Nature is nature... Nature is very persistent."
Fish kills can happen for several reasons, including algal blooms, droughts, infectious diseases, or heavy rain washing silt into a shallow water system, possibly accompanied by traces of agricultural or industrial chemicals.
DFO said in a statement last week that staff took samples from the Cardigan River to determine if there were any changes in water chemistry, and those tests continue.
No updates from province
A spokesperson for the department said Wednesday that there are no updates and that officials would not comment on the fish kill until the investigation is complete.
P.E.I.'s Department of Environment, Energy and Climate Action, which initiated the investigation, deferred inquiries to DFO, but did update the number of dead fish collected in the area. There were:
- 50 rainbow trout
- 137 brook trout
- 82 salmon
- 2 sticklebacks
The department said dozens more dead fish couldn't be collected because of water depth and conditions.
Bourgeois said the Southeast Environmental Association has been studying fish species and water temperatures in over 700 kilometres of river in eastern Kings County for the past five years.
While she said it could take several years for the Cardigan River's fish stocks to fully rebound after this month's incident, the group will continue its efforts to help that along.
"We're actually doing some work on the Cardigan River … to provide some habitat accessibility for fish coming in, so we're hoping that we're going to see some good results there," Bourgeois said.
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With files from Stacey Janzer